麻豆社区

The snow was hard-packed and slippery 鈥� and it sent more than one skijor team crashing to the ground at Sunday's Chocolate Claim Race day, the second race of the Yukon Brewing Copper Haul Twister league.

This included the Alpine Vet Race winner and 2008/09 league champion Jonathon Lucas, causing him to come in third place at 27:37 behind first place finisher Tony Radford at 26:17 and Crispin Studor at 27:18.

"The trail was hard-packed to the point of being icy,鈥� said Lucas.

It wasn't just the skijor teams having a hard time on the trail 鈥� a few sleds took spills along the way as well.

"A lot of the sleds had control issues,鈥� Lucas said.

There were even reports of sleds crashing into volunteers along the trail, although no injuries were reported from the mishaps.

Even with the falls, the times were faster than the Alpine Vet Race, held on Nov. 22.

The Chocolate Claim race saw 19 teams, including 10 new ones.

"It was a great race,鈥� said Lucas. "It was really exciting.鈥�

After Sunday's race there is no clear front runner. While Radford won first place, he didn't run the Alpine Vet race, and was awarded 10 points while Lucas has 16 and Studor has 14 in the league.

Before the race Studor had been claiming the race was his. Lucas responded by teasing the musher about his skis 鈥� but Sunday's result made Lucas aware that the league is full of surprises.

"It put me back in my place,鈥� Lucas laughed. "The league's wide open.鈥�

Lucas also ran the five-kilometre pet dog race with his dog Asha 鈥� on a mountain bike. He said the fact that he was able to run the race on a bicycle proves how hard packed the snow was.

"If the conditions are right, you can run it,鈥� Lucas said.

This race allowed dog sled teams to add a fifth dog to their team. At the next race the sled teams will be allowed six dogs, but the skijor teams will remain at four dogs.

This coming Sunday is the Yukon Brewing Reach For The Sky and Take The Beer poker run and the Yukon First Mate Freight Pull, that is hosted with the Dog Powered Sports of the Yukon. The event starts at 11:30 a.m.

Lucas said this year the league has a license to hold the event.

The top three hands have a chance to win prizes. The race is limited to 25 teams and four to 10 dogs, and is a great training race for Copper Haul Twister league racers, Lucas said.

"The fastest teams always win (in the league),鈥� said Lucas. This race will allow other teams a chance to train over the 22 kilometre trail and have a chance at prizes.

The freight pull will also be held along with the poker run. Dogs will have to pull increasing amounts of weight a short distance, without baiting from their handlers.

"The dog has to do it because it wants to, not because its going to get a nice juicy piece of meat,鈥� Lucas said.

For more information visit the Copper Haul Twister league's website at http://copperhaultwister.blogspot.com.

Eight-mile Copper Haul Twister

results

1. Tony (the Bandit) Radford, 26:17, five dog sled.

2. Crispin Studer, 27:18, five dog sled.

3. Jon Lucas, 27:37, three dog skis.

4. Dave (Tagish Tornado) Johnson, 29:57, five dog sled.

5. Kyla Boivin, 32:03, five dog sled.

Five-kilometre Kid's Race

1. Erin Spicer, 12:21, three dog sled.

Five-kilometre Pet Dog Race

1. Pippa Lawson, Tiramasu, 13:47, skis.

2. Jon Lucas, Asha, 14:53, bike.

3. Kam Davies, Hanah, 19:01, skis.

4. Cynthia Friedrich, Hanah, 22:01, skis.

5. Kyla Johnson, Tarka, 24:08, skis.